Finish for countertop near high heat

Im building a stove top for a camper, its going to have two smaller burners side by side, each burner sits a flat stainless surround thats about 9”x12” the burner itself is maybe 3” diameter. so with the stainless surround being flat, the heat travels horizontally pretty easy, and the surround itself gets pretty hot.

I did a test with the burner at full blast without a regulator and wood sticking above the stove edge (so the burner sat “in” the wood) and i was able to scorch it. but that was the worst conditions possible which will never happen with this setup. What i’m more worried about is prolonged heat with a big pan sitting on it, being directed sideways over the countertop, i could see it being enough to cause some finishes to maybe bubble up, and the wood in contact with the stove surround, which gets pretty hot, for reference I could hold my hand on the edge of the stove and I could hold it there, but if i held it for like 10 seconds or more it would really start to hurt.

4 replies so far

I would put some fireproof barrier between the stove and wood. There are products that retard flame on wood but I wouldn’t depend on that or epoxy over the long term. There is such a thing as low temp spontaneous combustion that happens when wood is exposed to high temperatures (but not high enough to char or combust) over long periods of time.

I redid my kitchen counters with reclaimed blackboard slate. You can put a frying pan directly from the stove onto it. Then you’d never have to worry, and they look great. Just epoxy onto 1/2 or 3/4 plywood.

Seriously though, I’d go with Rick’s suggestion of placing some heat barrier around it. That burner might seem small at 3”, but the flame shoots horizontally and with a pan on it all of the heat will radiate outwards. Any unprotected wood will be damaged.

-- No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.